How will a new car affect my insurance?

How will an accident affect car insurance premiums?

• Obviously without accident forgiveness, car insurance premiums increase in the event of an accident, and they skyrocket when you are young. That said, my 23 year old husband got ...show more

• Answer:

  Whether or not your premiums WILL rise is impossible for anyone in here to say, only your insurer can (and will) answer that question accurately. But they might. I'm going to say 'most' a lot in the explanation. Different states and provinces have their own rules governing auto insurance, and different companies all have their own rating procedures in each state / province. You didn't say who your insurer is or where you live. Most insurance companies don't rate for accidents based on who paid for what, they rate based on who owns the at-fault vehicle and the fact that the accident happened. And most jurisdictions let them do it. Most jurisdictions (again, most) have a rule saying an accident can only affect one vehicle at a time. So if the accident is being charged on the employer's policy it can't be charged on your husband's policy also, and vice versa. Most insurance companies, however, also have an extensive list of what does and doesn't qualify as a 'chargeable' accident in their rating manuals. There will be a whole list of conditions, limitations, exceptions and exclusions, because specific wordings are what insurance companies do for a living. They're the very definition of bureaucracy, and they leave very little open to interpretation. Hopefully, your insurer has a rule in their book (or in legislation) saying if an accident doesn't involve their policy, they don't charge for it in the rates. Hopefully. But only they'll know for sure.